| Classic Maya | |
|---|---|
| *Chʼoltiʼ tziij | |
 Part of an inscription at Palenque | |
| Region | Maya Lowlands |
| Era | 200–900 |
Mayan
| |
| Lowland Maya Hieroglyphs | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | emy |
emy Epigraphic Mayan | |
| Glottolog | epig1241 Epigraphic Mayan |
Classic Maya (or properly Classical Chʼoltiʼ) is the oldest historically attested member of the Mayan language family. It is the main language documented in the pre-Columbian inscriptions of the classical period of the Maya civilization.[1] It is also the common ancestor of the Cholan branch of the Mayan language family. Contemporary descendants of classical Maya include Chʼol and Chʼortiʼ. Speakers of these languages can understand many Classic Mayan words.
Classic Maya is quite a morphologically binding language, and most words in the language consist of multiple morphemes with relatively little irregularity. It shows some regional and temporal variations, which is completely normal considering the long period of use of the language. Even so, the texts make it clear that it is a single, uniform language. Classical Maya shows ergative alignment in its morphology, as well as syntactically in focus constructs. Although the descendant Cholan languages limit this pattern of ergative alignment to sentences in completive aspect, classical Mayan does not show evidence of split ergativity.[2]
Its spoken form, the Chʼoltiʼ, from the Manche Chʼol region, is known from a manuscript written between 1685 and 1695, first studied by Daniel Garrison Brinton. This language has become of particular interest for the study of Mayan glyphs, since most of the glyphic texts are written in the classical variety of Chʼoltiʼ, known as Classical Maya by epigraphers,[3] which is believed to have been spoken as a prestigious language form throughout the Maya region during the classic period.[4]
- ^ Houston, Stephen; Robertson, John; Stuart, David (2000). "The Language of Classic Maya Inscriptions". Current Anthropology. 41 (3): 321–356. doi:10.1086/300142. ISSN 0011-3204. JSTOR 10.1086/300142. PMID 10768879. S2CID 741601.
- ^ Stuart, David; Law, Danny (2017). "Classic Mayan: An overview of language in ancient hieroglyphic script". In: Aissen, Judith, Nora C. England and Roberto Zavala Maldonado (Eds.) the Mayan Languages. Routledge Language Family Series. New York: Routledge.: 128.
- ^ Houston, Robertson & Stuart (2000).
- ^ Kettunen & Helmke (2006) p. 12.